Love Conquers All
by DinozzoFan14
Summary: First FanFiction attempt. Tony Ziva romance. Ziva realises her true feelings after tragedy hits Tony. Will he survive to return the feelings? Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or the amazing characters
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Every morning began the same, Gibbs would already be there working on paperwork with his hand grasped around an ever present coffee cup whilst McGee looked across at his boss awaiting the order that was sure to come 'Grab your gear', Ziva watched them both carefully from the corner of her eye, enjoying the comfort she had found within her team. She looked across at the desk in front of her which was absent of her partner Tony, she smiled to herself wondering what excuse he would arrive with for being only minutes late. Tony had been a source of hilarity within her life from the moment she had arrived in America. The phone rang and it sounded like it was in the distance bringing Ziva back to the present time. Gibbs was quick as always and then spoke the words McGee had been waiting on all morning.

'Where's Dinozzo?' Gibbs asked as he walked by Zivas desk with McGee in tow. 'I don't know Gibbs I called him this morning but it went to voicemail' Ziva replied. Just at that moment the ding of the elevator sounded and the 3 special agents looked up to see Tony looking dishevelled as he exited, Gibbs pointed his finger to the lift and with a spin Tony re-entered in front of them, Gibbs was the last to enter. 'Late night Dinozzo?' Tony looked at both Ziva and McGee before looking back to Gibbs who had asked the question, 'Sorry Boss, met a woman and it turns out she doesn't own an alarm clock so things were hectic this morning trying to leave before she woke up' This earned him a quick slap to the head whilst McGee looked on with a smirk, Tony glanced at Ziva who all of a sudden had a rush of a feeling she had become accustomed to when hearing Tony speak about women, she had yet to acknowledge to herself that this was jealousy. She avoided eye contact with him fearing that he may sense the emotion she was feeling if he looked her in the eye.

The journey to the crime scene was silent, Ziva looked out the window whilst Tony scrutinised her, and he couldn't understand why she hadn't made any comment about his harsh treatment of the woman he had left in bed that morning. He was unsure why he no longer found anyone as attractive as he found Ziva. He knew she would never feel anything romantic towards him but he couldn't help admiring her beauty. Ziva looked over at him and they locked eyes for a moment. He felt like she wanted to say something to him but couldn't, before he could ponder on this the van had stopped and they had arrived at the crime scene.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The body of a marine had been found at the bottom of a steep cliff noticed by a dog walker out early on a Monday morning. Ducky was slowly making his way down with the help of Gibbs to inspect the body. Gibbs shouted to Tony to take pictures of the crime scene whilst Ziva took the witness statement. As McGee looked up the marines details on his phone he noticed Tony consistently glancing in Ziva's direction and she continued to either be oblivious to this or downright ignoring his looks. He sighed at this knowing full well that they both were attracted to each other and they hadn't done anything about it yet. He and Abby both had a bet based on the relationship that hadn't appeared, McGee put money on Tony being the first to admit his feelings but Abby insisted that Ziva would be the one to realise how she felt about Tony. The way it looked seemed to suggest either there was unresolved tension between them or one of them had confessed their feelings and the other had been too scared to acknowledge it.

When the team arrived back at NCIS the case seemed straight forward. There was a lot of inheritance entrusted to the wife in the event of the death of her husband and Tony as usual put forward his theory of 'always suspect the wife'. It also appeared that the wife had been having an affair with a known drug dealer who had motive to kill the husband but there was no solid evidence that the wife had been having an affair. In order to put forward the case a stake out would be required to have proof that the wife was associating with another man, one who had access to weapons and brute force.

Ziva was in the lab with Abby when McGee arrived to tell her that the Boss was looking for her. She had been in discussion with Abby to describe the feeling she had felt when Tony spoke about the woman this morning but had quickly shut off when she seen McGee. On the way out Abby raised her eyebrows upwards towards McGee in a show of knowledge about their bet. This confused McGee further as he was unaware of what evidence Abby could have had to feel she was winning the bet. He would need to dig further into his co-workers life to see if he was nearing a bet win or if he would need to give in and accept defeat. McGee was sure though that the time was nearing for a change in the dynamic of Tony and Ziva's relationship.

'Gibbs, you asked to see me?'Gibbs surveyed Ziva as she stood in front of his desk awaiting his reply. It was hard for someone like him who seemed all knowing to not have any knowledge of the friction between Tony and Ziva that morning at the crime scene. In his team no-one could afford to have tension between them, they needed 100% focus on any task as their lives were always on the line in this type of job. Gibbs was aware that they were without a doubt 2 of the best agents he had ever worked with but personal issues were high on the reasons of being unprepared for the danger that was a constant accompaniment of being an NCIS agent. 'I need you and DiNozzo to sort out how we are going to provide the evidence required to show that the wife was having an affair with this drug dealer, do we have a name for him yet?' Ziva turned her attention to the large screen next to Gibbs desk and set out the information Abby had found in the lab. 'Well according to the finger prints Tony lifted from the wife's car we linked them to an Alberto Sanchez, known drug distributor with gang links and access to a heavy arsenal but it's still circumstantial we can't prove that they were in an intimate relationship, or one that was enough to get our marine killed'. McGee arrived behind Ziva and put up a traffic camera image of Sanchez, 'Boss, this was taken around about the time Ducky put time of death, 3 miles from the crime scene'. Gibbs carefully took in the information in front of him and then turned to Ziva. 'Even more reason why we should work on getting that evidence and someone call DiNozzo, seems to have forgotten where his desk is'. Ziva sat at her desk while McGee continued to stand and a silence ensued, after a few minutes he cleared his throat..'So are you going to call Tony?' he asked Ziva carefully keeping his eyes on her still frame, she seemed to be engrossed in her email and acted like she had not heard him. 'Ziva?' She raised her eyes to McGee and stared solemnly in his direction. 'I called him once already this morning, I think it is now your turn to make the call'.

Tony sat inside a café enjoying a hot cup of coffee glancing at his switched off cell phone each time he finished taking a sip from his cup. He didn't understand why he had turned off his phone, the Boss would do more than slap his head if he knew he was intentionally ignoring any attempt to contact him, he only knew that he had no intention of speaking to any of the team until he could get his mood elevated and not be concerned about why Ziva was giving him the cold shoulder. He was sure he hadn't offended her, which wasn't hard but he had been particularly careful lately due to his believed deluded idea that there might actually be something more than a partnership between them. He concluded that he hadn't done anything that would warrant being given the silent treatment and switched his phone back on as he downed the last of the cup of coffee. The phone began ringing straight away, 'Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo' he answered. The voice of McGee sounded through the phone, 'Tony, the Boss has been looking for you, no-one has been able to get a hold of you, where are you?', Tony stepped into his car and put his seatbelt on whilst thinking of a suitable answer for McGee for his absence. 'I just needed to sort some things out before heading back to the office, is there any chance Ziva is giving you the silent treatment as well?' 'Nope, that's been saved for you especially' 'Of course it has, can't you do some computery stuff and figure out why she is giving me the special treatment?' 'Sorry Tony, this is one of those situations you might have to actually talk it through to understand the reason, just get in here before Gibbs gets back' McGee hung up the phone before Tony could reply, he glared at it before pocketing it and beginning the drive back to NCIS.

Tony made it to his desk just in time before Gibbs rounded the corner into the collection of desks his team sat at. 'Finally arrived DiNozzo?', 'Yes Boss, just getting to work', Gibbs stared at him for a moment before getting up from his desk and heading to The Directors office. Tony sighed and opened up his email whilst tapping his fingers against the desk. No-one was at their desks except him, he suddenly felt bad that he had vanished when they were in the middle of a case. 'Go home DiNozzo' Tony's eyes shot open to a darkened office with Gibbs staring at him from his desk. It became obvious that he had fallen asleep instead of doing any work. Tony left the office with the intention of heading home but found himself driving in the direction of McGee's house. Once outside the door Tony began questioning why he even went to McGee's, before he could knock on the door it opened and McGee and Ziva appeared. 'Tony! Why are you standing outside my door?' Tony opened his mouth to speak when he realised that Ziva was standing there. 'Oh this looks cosy, team meeting and I'm not invited' he chuckled but it sounded strained. 'We were actually just heading out for a drink, we have not seen you all day, we could not know that you would want to come' Ziva replied although she did not make eye contact. Tony glanced at McGee before answering Ziva's comment, 'Well looks like we're all going for a nice drink Elflord'.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ziva looked at McGee with raised eyebrows, waiting to see what his reply would be to Tony's statement that they should go get a drink. She wasn't thrilled at the idea of spending time with Tony at this moment; she was annoyed at herself for blaming him for her feelings. It wasn't like she had told him face to face that she had any feelings for him that were more than friendship, sure she believed that he must have noticed she was flirtatious towards him compared to the brother/sister relationship that she had with McGee or the father/daughter one with Gibbs but it was wrong to justify these actions and treatment she had given him simply because she was jealous. That's what Abby had told her the feeling she had felt was, to be fair she had scoffed at the thought of her being jealous of any bimbo Tony spent the night with however Abby was very perceptive and adamant that this was the correct emotion. Ziva couldn't disagree, she had explained her feelings in depth to Abby who had nodded along and confirmed that this was a feeling that most women would experience at some point in their lives. She looked up to see McGee locking the door and following Tony and set off behind them towards the car.

'This is nice' said Tony as he slid into a booth in the bar beside Ziva whilst McGee ordered the first round of drinks. He waved his hand in front of Ziva's face causing her to pull her face backwards. 'Must you do that, you are like an annoying child!'. 'I was only trying to get your attention; you were staring at the table like it had offended you'. Ziva stared Tony in the eyes before replying, 'Maybe it was not the table that has offended me'. Tony looked confused at the remark and began to answer when McGee arrived back at the booth, 'Maybe you can get the second round Tony and not pretend that you have forgotten your wallet', 'That was one time McGoo'. Silence reigned over the group as they all took slow sips from their drinks whilst waiting for the other to begin a topic of conversation, a woman who had been sitting on a bar stool before the team had came in sauntered over to the booth and sat next to McGee. 'Hello there' she spoke eyeing Tony appreciatively, 'haven't seen you in this bar before', Tony grinned at the woman, 'Well I have a very important job so I can't hang about in bars too often'. Ziva laughed out loud a harsh laugh and rose from her seat, 'I need some fresh air McGee and we should leave Tony to his…' she looked the woman up and down before continuing, 'special pursuits in life'. She swept out of the bar before anyone could reply to what she had said. Tony glared after Ziva, affronted that she had called speaking to this woman a 'life pursuit'. McGee stood up from his seat to go after Ziva when Tony grabbed his shoulder, 'I'm sure you could buy this lady a drink at the bar whilst I go after Ziva'. Tony stepped outside into the harsh wind and wrapped his jacket closer to him; he searched the street for Ziva but could see no sign of her. On turning his head back to the bar he caught a glimpse of her in the window of a small coffee shop and thanked God he could go back into the warmth even if he wasn't sure he would enjoy the conversation.

Ziva had both hands on her cup of coffee trying to keep them from seizing up from the cold weather. She was waiting on McGee although she was unsure of any reason that would explain to him why she had left the bar and especially a reason for her catty remark to Tony. The sound of the door opening caused her to spin round in her seat to welcome McGee but it was Tony who looked back at her. He sat down across from her and studied her face whilst she lowered her eyes to the table and picked at the sticker of her cup. 'Any particular reason why you have been giving me the cold shoulder and then taking shots at me in the bar, what did that even mean anyway, 'maybe it was not the table who offended me' are you saying it was me?'. Ziva continued to look away from Tony before finally accepting that she should apologise to him even if Gibbs had a rule against it, the team should not have to suffer from her petty jealousy and acting this way would not bring her any favours from Tony anyway, no-one likes jealousy. 'Sorry Tony, I did not mean you offended me. I had not realised I was giving you a cold shoulder, I just think that you should be better than picking up woman in bars you are no longer young'. Tony decided for whatever reason he would play along with this 'apology', Ziva never acted differently unless there was a reason, it would play out eventually but he would just need to wait it out. 'I wasn't picking up that woman I was with my team and it's called being polite plus she was nowhere near my type', 'You are unbelievable Tony, a woman needs to have a certain look to be valued by you?', 'See this is what I was talking about, it's as if you have a personal vendetta against me and I would like to know why Ziva' 'You did not answer the question and I have no vendetta against you, if I did you would be dead'. They stared at each other for what felt like hours before Tony broke the silence, he stood up, buttoned his jacket and began to walk to the door but stopped, 'I don't know what I've done to you Ziva but I'm sorry, I actually thought you liked me more than just as partners but it seems I was mistaken, I'll see you at work then'. He left and Ziva felt empty, she would not cry, tears had no purpose in life, they did not fix anything but she felt like she had just missed her opportunity to tell Tony that her feelings for him were what were making her go crazy but she hadn't spoken a word. Maybe it was because he had said he thought that _She_ was the one who liked him more than a partnership not that he liked her more than that. She did not want to be burned. No, it was far better to keep it to herself, Abby would tell no-one and she was worried that if Tony rejected her then she would not be able to go on as part of the team with him and she did not want to jeopardise her happiness at NCIS. Not that she had been happy since this morning before Tony had arrived and jump started this crazy burden of feelings to the forefront of her mind.

McGee sat patiently in the bar for over an hour before accepting that none of his team was returning. He had politely escaped from the clutches of the woman who had appeared at their table and was now in a different seat at the bar. He pulled out his cell phone and dialled the number and waited. 'Hi Abby, any chance I could come over to yours', 'Yes now', 'Ok I'll be there soon'. He emptied his glass in one last gulp and headed for a taxi. Abby opened the door to a slightly drunk McGee and guided him to have a seat on her sofa. 'Were you drinking yourself McGee, I've told you before that that's never good, really it's like very bad', 'No Abby I wasn't alone I was actually with Tony and Ziva, who seem to have disappeared'. Abby sat down next to him, 'Like together? Are you making this up to try and win the bet cause if you are McGee I will kill you and I don't need to remind you that I would never be caught', 'What? Of course I wouldn't make it up, Ziva got annoyed that Tony was talking to a woman in the bar and she left and then Tony went after her to find out why she left as if it wasn't obvious'. Abby stood up and went to her house phone and dialled Ziva's cell. 'She's not answering, why wouldn't she answer it could be an emergency?, I hope she's not sad, I'll kill Tony for being oblivious to her feelings and his for that matter, this bet is taking longer to come to an end than expected'.

'Boss are you down here?' Tony made his way down the stairs into Gibbs' basement where yet another boat was in the process of being put together. He heard the emptying of a jar of screws and knew that the Boss was pouring him a highly anticipated drink. They both took a sip and enjoying the silence before Gibbs sat down on a piece of wood and swirled the amber liquid around in the glass. 'Rule 12 DiNozzo'. Tony's head shot up and looked at Gibbs, 'Boss I haven't broken Rule 12?', 'Yeah you have, you just don't know it yet'. 'Me and Ziva?' Tony laughed; 'I hope that's not your gut telling you that because if it is then it's broken'. Tony looked at Gibbs for some sign of what he said being a joke but there was none. 'Boss she hasn't spoken to me all day except to throw snide comments I think it's fair to say there is no me and Ziva', 'There's no you and Ziva because the two of you are too scared to tell the other how you feel, dammit DiNozzo have I ruined that small brain of yours with blows to the back of the head or are you telling me you haven't seen the signals from Ziva'. Tony thought back to any time he had thought Ziva liked him as much as he liked her, most of the time it had just been flirtatious banter but he didn't know how she acted when she was alone with McGee or even Gibbs for that matter, he wasn't going to put his heart on the line to find out that it was a misread signal and he looked like a fool. 'You're wrong this time Boss, Ziva is the same with everyone, we're all a team and I can't jeopardise my position in NCIS. If I was to tell Ziva how I felt and to be rejected I wouldn't be able to stay. Its best I keep it to myself, for the sake of everyone else', he got up from his place in the basement and left for his home, eager to catch some sleep before facing Ziva and work tomorrow. He had admitted his feelings to Gibbs but not to the person who needed to hear them the most. He had no idea the woman in question had had the same thought process earlier that day.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The alarm clock sounded in the dark of the room, rousing Tony from his sleep deprived state, 4 hours was not a suitable amount of time for a Special Agent to sleep at night. Dragging himself out of bed and heading for the shower he remembered his conversation with Gibbs the night before. Well it could have been worse; he could have actually spoken those words out loud in front of Ziva. He was not looking forward to sitting behind his desk all day, the case was going nowhere and they had yet to get the green light on the stake out to gather evidence on the wife. They would need to simply wait until they were able to move forward until then he would work on the paper work that just seemed to continue to pile up on his desk, maybe he could bribe McGee into doing it for him, offer to be nice to him for a change or show him how to not be a computer geek. The water was not too hot and not too cold in the shower and Tony was able to enjoy the sensation and forget about his problems. Giving into his fate he stepped out of the shower and got ready, hoping to arrive at the office before anyone else including Gibbs. Tony arrived into the square that housed the team's desks and saw that the Boss was already in his chair holding onto a cup of coffee; of course he wasn't able to arrive before him it was as if he slept here when he wasn't working on his boat. "This way DiNozzo" said Gibbs as Tony sat down his rucksack next to his chair. "On your six Boss", the two of them made their way down to Abby's lab where she was spinning on a chair listening to her music at the highest level possible. "ABBY!". She abruptly stopped spinning and turned to face Gibbs while switching her music off via remote. "You don't have to shout Gibbs, this is my lab, its morning break and I don't have anything for you otherwise I would have known you were coming since that's your thing, you arrive when I just find out that I have something. Not that I need to have something for you to come here it's just that – ", Gibbs interrupted her before she could finish her rambling sentence, "I know you don't have anything Abs I want you and DiNozzo to try and find anything you can on Sanchez that could tie him to our dead marines wife". DiNozzo looked towards Gibbs in confusion, "Don't you think this is something that McGee would be better at, I mean he is the computer geek of us all", this earned Tony a slap to the head and he flinched, "But you know best Boss, on it!". As Gibbs walked out he heard Abby slap Tony on the arm, a gesture he believed could be due to the tension between DiNozzo and Ziva and one he hoped could knock some sense into him, he had more or less given the go ahead for the breaking of Rule 12.

Gibbs returned to his desk and was still there when Ziva exited the lift with McGee by her side. "I expected you to be mad that we did not return last night, what did you do when we did not come back McGee?" "I just went home, you know, to play some online video games as normal" Ziva narrowed her eyes at the back of McGee's head as he walked by her and sat down behind his desk. He was lying but she was unsure why he would feel the need to. Gibbs cleared his throat and Ziva realised he was right in front of her and no longer sitting in his chair. "Problem Ziva?" she sat her bag down on the floor and shook her head. "DiNozzo is in the lab with Abby working on finding anything that will tie Sanchez to our dead marine and his wife, I want you two to go see the wife again, see if you see anything suspicious in her behaviour". Ziva and McGee grabbed their gear and headed back towards the lift again to begin work, as they stepped in Ziva scrutinised McGee again for signs of unease, "So how long did you play the shooting game last night?..".

Tony was lying back in Abby's chair catching up on some sleep when she hit the on button on her stereo and he nearly jumped out of his skin. "ABBY! Can't you see I'm sleeping here" "Sorry Tony! I forget other people come down here I'm used to working on my own, it's my thing". He stretched his legs out in front on him and closed his eyes again, after a while he felt like someone was staring at him and since Abby was the only one in the room he kept them shut causing her to have to speak to get his attention. "Don't you feel it when someone stares at you Tony?" "Yes Abby but I chose to ignore the fact that you were". She pulled her lab chair over towards him and sat down. "So Tony, anything new in your life that you would like to share?" he opened his eyes to find her invading his personal space and slid his chair further back, "No, is there something that you think is new in my life, have you been looking over my computer history again? Because people Google all sorts of things it doesn't mean it's related to their life". "No I haven't Tony but keep in mind that I can find out anything about you I wish but that's not why I was asking, just wondering if you had maybe realised anything about yourself recently, say… a secret love you have been harbouring and not acknowledging?". Tony stared at her for a while, surely Gibbs had not discussed anything he had said with Abby, sure she was his favourite but the Boss knew how to keep a secret, she must be fishing for something and doesn't actually know anything. "Secret love?" he chuckled, "I don't have secret loves Abby you should know that but at this moment I have no interests in woman, well I have some interest in them of course I would but –". Abby sighed and rose from her chair and walked through the screen doors towards her lab "Forget I asked Tony, you'll come to me soon enough".

McGee and Ziva arrived at the wife's house earlier than expected; upon exiting the car they noticed that the light was on in the porch which was strange during the day but nothing to warrant suspicion. They knocked on the door and waited for an answer which never came. Ziva took the back door whilst McGee looked through the front window. The body of the marine's wife was sprawled on the floor with a pool of blood that had oozed from a gunshot wound to the back of the head. "Ziva I have a body in the front room, enter with caution". They headed into the house, Ziva made sure all the rooms were clear and McGee checked the pulse of the wife, dead. "McGee call this into the Boss, there's evidence here, look at this bullet case"**. **20 minutes later the whole team were in the front room with Tony taking pictures of the crime scene before they all returned to NCIS.

Ducky finished the autopsy and sent the bullet embedded in the wife's head up to Abby for analysis. The rest of the team focused on finding a motive behind the murder of one of their prime suspects in the marine murder case. Tony tapped his pen on his desk whilst trying to sort through the case notes they had accumulated so far. "So we have a marine who had just been granted a very large inheritance, which goes to the wife in event of his death, who is having an affair with a known drug dealer who is off the radar and now the wife is dead too.. It has to be our drug dealer, there is no-one else with a motive to kill her unless someone knew about the money and had access to it". McGee typed some information into his computer and then spun round in his chair to be face on with Tony, "The bank account that held the money has been cleared out within the last 4 hours, Ducky put time of death at 2 hours ago, and she must have emptied it before she died". Just then Ziva piped up and the two agents jerked their heads up not having heard her approach them. "Sanchez must have known she was emptying it and he killed her and then taken the money however we still have no idea where he is or if it even was his bullet that killed her". The 3 of them slumped into their chairs, annoyed that they didn't have a lead on where Sanchez was and nothing to do. Gibbs entered from the left and sat at his desk when the phone rang. "That was Abby, the bullet matches Sanchez's registered weapon and lucky enough the BOLO worked out and he's just been spotted entering the home of a known associate in the drug 'business' ". All of them jumped up and grabbed their gear with Tony grinning, "Looks like we got a lucky break for once". "Unlike the wife DiNozzo", "Yes Boss of course this is sad, being sad now Boss". Gibbs smirked at Tony and then looked at McGee, "Go down to the lab and help Abby with anything, she's trying to back trace Sanchez's movements since he's been off the grid, Tony Ziva you two head to where Sanchez is, do not approach him, stake out the place, remain unseen, this guys dangerous with a lot of help, I don't give you permission to be seen". Tony motioned to Ziva to walk in front of him, "Stake Out Time!" Ziva smiled at his remark, unsure about how this night was going to unfold, her and Tony in a small car for a long period of time.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N **Sorry everyone! I had to re upload this chapter after an anon pointed out I had left it all one paragraph by mistake. Didn't want it annoying anyone else. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

Tony got into the driver's seat and waited on Ziva getting into the passenger seat, once she was strapped in they set off to the location. It was 8.15pm by the time they arrived after stopping off to grab a takeout dinner and soda and they turned the engine off a good distance away from the house but close enough to be able to monitor the situation with the use of binoculars. They ate in silence, which was no longer awkward just comfortable and watched the house patiently, Tony hummed along to the quiet sounds of the radio whilst Ziva checked her phone numerous times in the space of minutes. "I do not think we are going to witness anything of interest" Ziva spoke out loud, Tony nodded whilst checking his own phone and picked up the binoculars once again, "There doesn't seem to be any movement from what I can see in the window, maybe they're watching a movie". Ziva yawned and lay back in her chair closing her eyes, Tony set down the binoculars and studied her from the corner of his eyes, she was radiant as usual. He admired her flawless skin and how her eyelids twitched now and again with tiredness making her eyelashes move against her skin looking so soft, a stray curl was hanging by her face and he moved without realising to tuck it behind her ear when her eyes shot open, "Why are you staring at me and what were you going to do to me?". Tony pulled his hand back as if he had been burned and tried to act natural, "I was going to pull your hair and make you stay awake, this is a dangerous stake out, and you can't sleep". Ziva closed her eyes again and laughed softly, "I am more prepared asleep than you would be when awake Tony", he mimicked her remark humorously and closed his own eyes, if the Boss knew they had their eyes shut he would slap his head, probably twice. As soon as that thought entered his head his phone began ringing, "Hey Boss", of course he knew their eyes were shut its Gibbs, he knows all. "Nothing out of the ordinary yet, another hour? Got it Boss".

He hung up the phone and looked at Ziva, "We must stay here another hour? That's not so bad, it's very late, they won't suspect we are sitting here", "The Boss said that if he leaves when we are still here we have to tail him and see where he ends up". Ziva nodded and reached for the binoculars, as she reached she grazed Tony's hand with the back of hers and felt a shot of lust shoot through her. He really did have nice hands, why had she never noticed this before. She looked up to see him staring at his hand where hers had just touched, skin to skin contact. He raised his eyes and they met with hers for a short moment before he coughed and looked out the window. She raised the binoculars up and noticed movement in the house, at least they were still there and they weren't sitting here for nothing. She looked back at Tony who was pretending to be very interested in something beyond the trees were they were parked. This was getting ridiculous, he was obviously uncomfortable around her, maybe he had realised that she really was jealous and was unsure how to act around her because he didn't return the feelings. Ziva shifted in her seat causing Tony to become aware again of his surroundings, he assumed she was uncomfortable that her hand had accidentally touched him and believed she had given him false hope so had moved further away from him in her chair. This was embarrassing, were they not adults? Could they not have a civilised discussion and get everything out in the open regardless of the consequences, life was short. The internal pep talk that was running through Tony's head was showing on his face and Ziva was watching him intently wondering what exactly he was thinking of that was giving him such a determined look upon his face, perhaps he was about to tell her exactly what she should do with her feelings, he was her partner after all, they should be able to work in a non complicated environment. She looked at him, deciding she should look co-operative of whatever he was going to say, even though she knew for a fact that if he was to openly reject any small advance that he may have picked up on she would be devastated and would probably get out the car and leave the stake out.

Ziva decided that she would not be the one to sit back and listen to Tony have a say on what he believed were her feelings, now was the time to step up, she wasn't afraid of anything, to hell with Rule 12 or any rule for that matter, she was going to tell him how she felt and if he didn't like it well tough, she would kill him. Ziva laughed out loud at her last remark in her head knowing if there was anybody she couldn't kill then it would be Tony. Hearing Ziva laugh Tony looked back at her. "Has the stake out made you insane already, I thought I would be the first to go". He smiled at her and Ziva was further determined this was the right time. "Tony I've been meaning to tell you something, I have looked for an appropriate time but there seems to not be many of those in our work", Tony's mind began whirring with any reasons Ziva would want to speak to him, it must be to tell him she was uncomfortable with his advances, he tried to look nonchalant and motioned for her to continue, "I was unsure whether or not I should inform you of this but I have decided that you should know and I should not judge you for your response however you have my word that I will allow you to live". She looked at her hands and clasped them in her lap, willing herself to get it over with, get it out in one line and it would be finished. "I like you Tony, more than a partner or a team member, I felt that I have made it clear to you on many occasions you either do not return any feeling or quite simply you are an idiot". Tony was mind blown, Ziva liked him! He was suddenly filled with a warmth he had never known and smiled brightly back at her, "Ziva, I –".

At that moment shots began raining down on the windscreen of the car and the sound of gun fire was heard all around, Ziva pushed her door open grabbing her holster and pulling her gun out quickly, she seen 3 men on her side approaching the car and took each of them out with single shots to the head. It was a difficult task as they had not thought to wear bullet proof vests; their position must have been compromised. Tony had seen 4 men and had managed to gun down them all before going to check Ziva was ok, his heart was beating rapidly in his chest, he had been so happy and they had let their focus drop for a moment and that moment had been enough for the gang to get the drop on them, he would need to call Gibbs. He could see Ziva was fine and she holstered her weapon, however just as he looked at her, a man appeared a few feet behind Ziva, unseen to her and he had a gun pointing straight at her, Tony heard the blast of the gun as did Ziva who had spun round to face the gunman at the sound however Tony threw himself through the air taking the bullet that had been aimed at Ziva. "TONY!" Ziva shot the unknown man through the heart and dropped to her knees at Tony's side, the blood was oozing quickly from a gunshot wound to his chest, she applied pressure whilst calling the ambulance. "You'll be ok Tony; just don't shut your eyes stay with me". Tony coughed, the blood spluttering from his mouth. "I like you too Ziva, actually I love you as if this doesn't prove it". He smiled and a tear ran down Ziva's face, "You can tell me this when you are not bleeding". "I don't think I'll be able to Ziva, I want you to know now and tell the Boss it was my fault we were seen without permission". Ziva smiled through her tears but soon lost it when Tony's eyes shut over, the ambulance arrived to a distraught Ziva who wouldn't let go to Tony.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Gibbs arrived on the scene with McGee in tow and headed straight to Ziva who was curled on the road next to the ambulance crew who were working on Tony. "What happened here!" he looked around hastily and then his eyes focused on the paramedics working on Tony, they had managed to stabilise him but if he didn't get hospital treatment quickly it would be fatal, one of them signalled to the other and they lifted him into the ambulance, "Is anyone coming to the hospital?" Ziva's head snapped up and she went to enter the ambulance when she heard Gibbs, "McGee will go, Ziva you stay here, we need to know what happened", she stared intensely at Gibbs rivalling even his own stare before stepping back and making way for McGee to go with Tony. He entered and then the ambulance sped off towards the hospital with the siren blaring loudly, Ziva felt that she would never forget the sound as long as she lived.

Upon entering NCIS, Ziva was met with Abby and Ducky, eager of news of Tony's condition. Ziva understood their anxiousness but she really just wanted to get to the hospital, she had no patience for the questions that Gibbs would be firing at her very soon. He had entered behind her and was in discussion with Ducky whilst Abby listened but kept her eyes on Ziva, they were filled with such sympathy that it was making Ziva uncomfortable. It was obvious she had been crying but she did not want anyone to pull any attention towards it. Abby and Ducky left and Gibbs sat at his desk, Ziva looked at him waiting on him to start asking her questions but he just looked straight back at her. After a few moments of silence she broke it, "Aren't you going to ask me anything?" "I was giving you a few minutes to get back on track, being upset won't change anything", Ziva slammed her hand on the desk and stood up from her chair, "I am not upset to change anything I am upset because it should have been me with the bullet in my chest", Gibbs frowned at her, "You can't think like that Ziva there's nothing you could have done to stop it" she laughed at him harshly and wiped a tear that had fallen in anger, "He shot at me Gibbs, Tony threw himself in front of it before I could react". Gibbs was lost for words for a moment before pulling himself together he decided not to push the matter further and focused on how they had ended up in that situation. "What happened?" he asked softly. Ziva sat back down in her chair and tried to focus on answering the question put forward. "We took our focus off the house for at most 5 minutes and the next thing we knew shots were being fired at us from close range, our position must have been compromised how that is I do not know, we remained out of sight". Gibbs sighed and leaned back, "What caused the focus on the house to be lost?". Ziva rested her head on the desk suddenly overcome with tiredness but fighting it, she couldn't sleep when Tony was in the hospital, she had to get to him, tell him that she too loved him not only liked him, they hadn't even heard word on his condition on arriving at the hospital. She suddenly felt breathless, as if she couldn't take in a breath and her heart began racing, she bounced up from the desk and grabbed her gun and keys. "Where are you going Ziva?" Gibbs shouted getting up from his desk. "To Tony".

The hospital was not a place Ziva enjoyed being, it meant you had been caught out, not quick enough to avoid the evil that was out there hunting you, and illness was not something she bowed down to easily. McGee was outside waiting on her when she arrived, "What is his condition?" she asked as they walked through the main entrance towards the seat McGee had been occupying for the last hour. He looked flustered and as if he had aged years in the short time he had been here. "He lost a lot of blood, he's had a transfusion, he's in surgery, there wasn't much else they could tell me except it was a 50/50 survival rate". Ziva was unsure what this news meant to her, he was alive but maybe not for long, what if he didn't make it from the operating theatre; he would die alone because she had made a stupid mistake. If she hadn't told him how she felt they would not have lost the focus on the house. She would have to live with the knowledge that telling Tony her feelings had basically got him killed. She felt the onset of tears coming again and McGee gingerly laid his hand on her back in a sign of comfort.

An hour later Gibbs came barrelling through the hospital doors, on spotting his team with one member short he approached them and McGee got up and filled him in on what they knew, away from Ziva afraid she might lose it once again. The sound of a door opening caused Ziva to look up and she saw a surgeon coming towards McGee, "Agent McGee, we ran into a few complications throughout the surgery, we were able to stabilise him however to protect itself his body has shut down and he has entered into a coma, this sounds a lot worse than it is, it happens to many gunshot victims whose body needs time to heal itself". "How long do you expect him to remain in the coma" Gibbs asked. "Usually the patient can return to consciousness after a week however it has been known to last longer, thinking positive and showing positivity to the patient has always worked well, many patients have said they can hear the surroundings during this time, so remain positive should you be in the room". "Can we see him?" "In a while, I'll return to take you to the room".

The 3 agents sat in silence, waiting on the surgeon returning. McGee got up to call Abby and tell her the news and she arrived soon after to be with everyone. She sat next to Ziva and laid her hand on top hers, Ziva smiled at her. Gibbs watched Ziva closely, he was sure that it was something personal that had caused them both to lose focus, he assumed DiNozzo had finally told Ziva of his feelings and the state Ziva was in it was fairly obvious she had returned them. The world was cruel however he knew that more than anyone, he hoped that DiNozzo would get out of this fine, he had survived the plague after all, and he deserved to be with Ziva after keeping it in this whole time. The surgeon returned and escorted them to the room where Tony was looking rough, he had tubes everywhere and the machine beeped loudly in the quiet room. They stayed for a while, Abby speaking the most to Tony before everyone left for home.

The following week passed in a blur for Ziva, she went to work and spent her nights in the hospital, sitting in silence watching over Tony, she hadn't been able to speak to him yet, feeling pain at the fact he would not reply to anything she said with his usual jokey tone. On the 9th night of being in the hospital she had had enough of feeling sorry for herself, it was Tony who was in the hospital bed not her, the surgeon had specifically told them that positivity was essential, she knew Abby had been very positive on her visits, she had brought him many gifts that were displayed all around the room. Ziva leaned forward in her chair and took Tony's hand in hers, it was warm not cold like she had expected. Her phone beeped to tell her it was time to go, she bent forward and placed a kiss on his forehead before heading to the door. "I love you Tony", she reached for the handle and turned it open. "Ziva?" his voice was so quiet but she heard him, Tony, she whipped round to see him with his eyes open.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Gibbs received a call on the night Tony woke up, an anonymous tip off about a note that had been left at the crime scene where Tony had been shot. It was a small piece of paper marking the spot where he had been injured, containing 2 lines of words. "We know who you are, and we will dispose of you". He had sent it down to Abby asking for her to make it a priority for any DNA evidence that may have been left behind. She found a single finger print on the front, matching those of Sanchez. They believed it was a deliberate message to show that he was not one of the men that had been killed that night and mocking the team, the note was a warning; his team was in danger from this drug dealer and his henchmen.

Ziva was frozen in the doorway, staring at Tony whose eyes had opened only seconds ago, she thought she was dreaming, had probably dozed off in her chair. She let go of the door handle and slowly walked towards him. "Are you really awake?" Tony laughed, it sounded coarse from his unused vocal cords and his voice came out quiet and cracked, "Yes, at least I hope so or I'm having a dream, which would make more sense since I heard you say you loved me". Ziva occupied the seat which she had left moments ago and took Tony's hand in hers. "You are not dreaming, I did say that, I never got that chance to tell you on that night" he smiled up at her, taking in her drawn face and sleep deprived eyes. "You look tired" "Everyone looks tired, even Gibbs" "Gibbs.. How did the Boss take it when he found out we had disobeyed him and had been seen? Am I fired?" As if on cue Gibbs appeared at the room door and walked in with 2 cups of coffee in his hands, "If you don't get better soon DiNozzo you will be" he smiled at him whilst handing Ziva a coffee, "Didn't expect you to be awake, how do you feel?" "Like I took a bullet to the chest and then bled a lot" "Well hurry up and get better, the team is missing the Senior Field Agent". Tony smiled and then shut his eyes, overcome with sudden tiredness. Ziva left to get the nurse to check on him whilst Gibbs kept watch in the room, he had to remain vigilant, they all did now, and they had a drug lord after them all. When Ziva returned with the nurse to check on Tony's vitals he motioned with his head for her to follow him outside the room.

Gibbs filled Ziva in on the note that had been found and her first reaction was for Tony's safety. It would be vital that there was an agent on watch at the hospital until he was strong enough to look after himself and who knew how long that would take, he had suffered extensive internal injuries. Gibbs agreed that Tony should have someone on guard at all times and that Ziva was not to let her guard down at all, Tony wouldn't always be with her to take a bullet for her. They decided not to let Tony know about the note as they didn't want any stress to hinder his recovery time and he shouldn't notice, her, Gibbs and McGee were always around visiting him anyway.

McGee and Abby had worked through the night trying to find the location of Sanchez; they had accessed the satellite images of the night of Tony's shooting and studied how they had been approached when they were not focusing. They realised that the position of Tony and Ziva had been compromised at least an hour before the shooting began and they were both lucky to be alive. Gibbs had assigned McGee to watch over Abby in case Sanchez had meant everyone in the team that was hunting him was at risk, Abby was the only one capable of finding his location along with McGee's help so he had to assume that she would be high on his priority list too, Tony would most likely be number one as he was in a vulnerable state and already injured.

Ziva was cleaning her gun to calm her mind next to the sleeping form of Tony when she felt like she was being watched, she slowly turned towards Tony who's eyes remained closed and then got up and surveyed the room for anyone who could have been spying on her. There was no sign of anyone through the window or in the corridor outside of his room, she was not about to shrug this feeling off though, if she had felt like someone was watching her then someone had been watching her. She put her gun back together and kept it in the holster with the safety off, should she need to use it in a timely manner. She hoped Gibbs would find Sanchez quickly, she felt as if she needed a break away from death, destruction and the constant need to protect herself and her partners from danger. She wanted to get away for a while and the more she thought about she realised that she wanted Tony to come with her, they had finally admitted their true feelings for one another and she didn't want to let that go, the thought of him made her happy and content, Ziva knew that he would want a break too after being shot, unnecessarily too. Hopefully he would want to accompany her wherever she felt she had to be to regain her inner calm. He was still fast asleep and had been for most of the day that Ziva had been there, he looked peaceful in sleep and no longer in pain from his injuries, he had been taken off the morphine and was no longer on any painkillers, the doctors were pleased with his recovery and expected him to be released in a couple of days.

The next day Abby and McGee finally gained the co-ordinates of the location of Sanchez's place of business and where he had been for the past couple of days according to his GPS from his cell phone. Gibbs decided to leave Ziva with Tony whilst he, McGee and some other NCIS special agents went to check it out. What ensued was a chaotic gun war with no casualties for NCIS but all deaths for Sanchez's men. However there was no sign of Sanchez anywhere, McGee found his cell phone turned on next to one of the dead men and showed it to Gibbs. "Something doesn't feel right McGee, he knew we were coming and not to be here, he's up to something". McGee couldn't think of what he would be up to, leaving his men here to be killed but he knew better than to question the gut of Gibbs.

Ziva relieved the special agent outside Tony's room and walked inside to find him wide awake and perched up in bed watching a movie. "You seem better" she said taking her usual spot and removing her jacket and gun, sitting them in the chair next to her. "More now that you are here" he smiled charmingly. Ziva laughed and reached her hand out towards his, he took it and they held on to each other without saying anything. Then he pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand and she smiled. It was so comfortable in his presence; she had finally found her niche. They sat chatting about work and everything else for a while before Ziva felt the hairs on her neck stand up once again and the feeling that eyes were focused straight at her and again she looked around avidly and found nothing, no-one at the window and no-one in the corridor, strange. She didn't voice her concerns with Tony in order to keep him from wanting to get out of bed to protect her when really they all needed protecting. Tony had a toilet within his hospital room which was good as Ziva could go and not need to leave his room and him alone, once in the toilet she checked her reflection when washing her hands and noticed that she was glowing with happiness. On stepping out of the toilet she immediately knew something was wrong as the atmosphere in the room was too different. She raised her eyes to see Sanchez with her gun, sitting in her chair with it aimed at Tony, who appeared to have attempted to get out of bed to protect himself and her but his wound had prevented it as his face was contorted in agony with him gripping the bed. She instinctively went to his aid and scowled at Sanchez who grinned back. "NCIS just couldn't leave well along could they? Too bad they'll need to lose a whole team of agents because of it".


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Gibbs and McGee stood at the scene of the gun fire that had ensued when they arrived at the whereabouts of where they believed Sanchez had been hiding. Gibb's gut was telling him that he was missing something crucial to why he wasn't here. His phone began to ring and it was the Director, asking to be filled in on the status of the mission, had Sanchez been apprehended. He asked for an agent to let him know the details in person since Gibbs was not ready to leave until he figured out the reason he still felt uneasy. On leaving their location the agents were made aware that all vehicles used to get there had had their tyres punctured, slashed by knives to make them unusable, however the strange thing was that the car Gibbs and McGee had used remained untouched. In his eagerness to get to the Director to relay the information an up and coming agent that had just been privy to his first field outing that had involved gun fire, entered the car that had been left untouched. McGee had a bad feeling about that car, it was his and Gibbs and there must have been a deadly reason as to why it was still usable. In the moment of realising danger and the thought process before it made its way to his voice, the agent had turned the engine over and triggered a large car bomb. Glass and body parts sprayed over the NCIS agent, fire and petrol flying through the air and igniting the closest to the car. Gibbs' jacket caught aflame and McGee was quick to action to grab it off his back, the closest few agents were not as lucky and their tortured screams filled the ears of the others. The heat from the fire ensured no-one could get anywhere near close to help the injured and all that could be done was a phone call to the emergency services.

The fact that the car had belonged to Gibbs and his team was not lost on him and he quickly grabbed for his phone to call Ziva who he knew was on duty at the hospital. The continued ringing of a phone not being picked up did nothing to ease his stress, it should have went to voicemail if it was turned off, which it should be if she was in the hospital. Why would it be back on, scenarios where Ziva had been killed and her phone taken for the use of calling Gibbs to mock him ran through his mind. He grabbed McGee and marched him over to one of the police cars that had arrived on the scene; quietly the two of them entered and then began the engine. Stealing a police car was the least of his worries at the moment.

Ziva eyed Sanchez warily, looking for any escape route or way to gain control of her gun from him before he could fire at Tony. Her phone rang and was ignored by them all as they sized each other up, Tony was in no condition to be a threat to anyone and Sanchez held all the power being in control of the gun. "By now, your team will have lost two of its members; since you find yourself alive for the time being you will be aware that you are not the deceased". Tony looked wildly at Ziva whose face remained impassive, she did not believe that Gibbs would have been outsmarted by this man, and McGee would be perfectly safe with him. In an attempt to buy more time to access the situation she pretended to believe what had been said. "How did you manage to kill our Boss then? He's smart" "It was not that hard, car bombs are now virtually undetectable, especially after such a big gun fight and you just want to drive home, don't worry though, I'm sure it was very quick for both of them". Tony's face showed how enraged he was and the bed shook with the anger radiating from his hands that gripped tightly upon it, had he been able to get near Sanchez it would not be surprising should he have the strength to rip his head off.

Ziva had accessed the situation. She was always armed more than her gun; she carried her favourite knife strapped to her ankle. The problem for her was how to grab hold of it without being seen, Sanchez was an arm stretch away from her, it was impossible without some form of diversion, the hospital bed shielded his view from the bottom half of her and Tony's bodies. If she could communicate to him that she was armed then he could attempt to draw the attention away from her, but she didn't want to endanger him in any way. "So why do you feel that you need to kill us then?" she asked, whilst he mockingly thought about the answer to the question she slowly moved her leg against Tony's, she knew immediately that he had felt her blade as his eyes widened with recognition. It was Rule 9, 'Never go anywhere without a knife'; being in hospital he unfortunately was breaking the rule. Sanchez showed no signs that he had seen the moment between them and began to answer. "It's the law of the street, anyone snooping in my business will not live very long, it's just sad that I had to kill that marine, I admire those who fight for our lives but his wife was so pretty and she asked for my help, of course I had to dispose of her, the money was compensation for my skilled work being unpaid". Tony grabbed his side and cried out in pain, shocking Ziva, no-one had touched him, and this frightened her more than the gun being pointed at them.

"What's wrong Tony?"He gripped her hands tightly and she searched his face looking for the source of his pain. "Well this is very touching, but I'm on a tight schedule and I only allocated so much time for your murder". Ziva loathingly stared in his direction but her attention was cut short when she felt Tony slipping from her grip and falling towards the floor, in a split second she realised that this was an act, he was giving her the moment of distraction she needed, she dived to the floor in the pretence of grabbing at Tony but her hands flew to her ankle and retrieved the blade, before Sanchez even became aware of anything she had thrown the blade straight through his heart, the shock had caused him to pull the trigger blasting a bullet through the room window and covering the room in glass, Ziva dove to cover Tony who had passed out with the real pain of landing on his injury.

McGee and Gibbs had arrived at the hospital just as the sound of a gunshot breaking a window reverberated around the corridors, sprinting towards Tony's room Gibbs threw the door open to an empty bed and the body of Sanchez with a knife through his heart. McGee slowly crept round to the far side of the bed, scared of the scene that might be there when he came across an unconscious Tony and Ziva picking glass from his arm. "Good to see you are alive, McGee" she stood up pulling Tony with her before McGee stepped in and helped him into bed, "You too Gibbs". He breathed a sigh of relief looking at his team all still alive, "Good to see you are still as deadly with a knife as you are a gun".


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The day Tony was released from the hospital; Ziva had decided that they both needed a well deserved break away from work. She had put in for time off and then asked if Tony could have the same week which was given approval. Everyone was aware that they had finally acknowledged how they felt about each other but McGee still hadn't gotten up the courage to ask Ziva who had spoken up first. It had still been a delicate situation around the both of them, after the bang of falling onto his injury for the diversion there had been some serious blood clotting complications but Tony had as usual shown his strength and pulled through and was once again healthy and well rested. Ziva hadn't told Tony about her asking for time off for the both of them, she had booked a week away to Milan in Italy and was looking forward to exploring the new dynamic of their relationship. This was for keeps, not only because Tony had risked his life to save hers but she felt in her heart that they were the right type of people for one another and would be able to get through anything that life threw their way which is something couples can only dream of finding in each other.

Abby was alone in her lab working on case files when she heard Ziva come in to the lab, she could tell who each person was from the sound of their footsteps or the lack of footsteps heard in the case of Gibbs. She had hoped Ziva would feel comfortable enough with her to divulge the secrets of what happened that night, it was fair enough her telling Abby about her feelings but it was another thing to go into detail how her and Tony told each other how they really felt. Ziva sat down in the chair next to Abby, "I did it", Abby's face broke into a wide grin as she eyed Ziva, "I told you it would go great, well apart from the gunfire and then Tony getting shot saving you and then the hospital complications and nearly being killed again but except from all that it went great and I knew it would" Ziva laughed at Abby's description of how the night went and knew that just by uttering those three words about that night, she had solidified her and Abby's friendship to a new level and this made her extremely happy. Abby was also extremely happy as she now had the evidence needed to go and collect her winnings from the bet with McGee, she knew Ziva was the tough one to make the decision to tell Tony about the feelings, of course Tony had then shown his feelings on a whole new level.

When Tony arrived in the building after his time in the hospital he was bombarded with hugs and shakes of the hand by everyone, even people he was ashamed to admit that he didn't know the name of. He was seated at his desk reflecting on his time in hospital and how it had changed his perspective on life, having the plague made him appreciate life more in general but jumping in front of that bullet for Ziva had shown him life was too short to not make the most of it with someone he loved, and that someone was most definitely Ziva. Abby rounded the corner and engulfed him in a long awaited hug which crushed his ribs to his lungs, "Hey Abby, good to see you, hope McGee didn't cheat you out of your winnings on that bet, you won""I can't believe you knew about that bet but thanks I did win since you were too scared". He chuckled at this and looked around expectantly for Ziva, he wanted to take her out for dinner, he felt they hadn't spent enough time together since they realised they were in love. She was no-where to be seen though and he made do with following Abby to the lab where Gibbs, McGee and the Director were all waiting on him with a Welcome Back banner across the door. He really loved everyone in his team and was happy to be a part of such a great bunch of people.

Ziva filled a suitcase with all the clothes that she was sure was appropriate for their holiday including Tony's, she had picked the lock on his door and grabbed all the essentials she could find. She didn't want him to have any idea about the holiday before they arrived at the airport. When she was finished she took one last look around the apartment and stopped suddenly when her eyes caught on a printed photograph propped up beside his alarm clock. It was a photo of the both of them captured at an NCIS Christmas party, they were both unaware of the camera and were laughing together, it was such a beautiful photo that was made better by the fact they had been caught in their natural habitat, laughing together the way they always were, if she didn't know the people in the photo she would have assumed they were a couple. Maybe this is why people knew we were in love, she thought, they could see this when we couldn't.

Ziva had arranged for Gibbs to drop Tony off at the airport where she would be waiting with everything they needed. As she waited she reflected on everything that had happened in the past few weeks and how her life had dramatically changed for the better. She was finally with Tony! Her heart swelled with happiness and she knew she would fight constantly to keep hold of this feeling for as long as she lived. She glanced outside and saw that Gibbs was just arriving with a perplexed looking Tony.

Tony watched as the airport came into his view on his right side. He wasn't sure why they were here, surely Gibbs would know he wasn't ready to go abroad and work already, he was on desk duty, sorting out paper work, nothing strenuous. It wasn't until he saw Ziva at the doorway he realised that she must have had something to do with this. He got out and embraced her in a warm hug, after they had said goodbye to Gibbs he turned and looked at her questioningly. "I thought it was time we took a break, my treat as you risked your life for mines, I believe you are owed this", he smiled and took her hand in his and he surveyed the flight departures, "Italy?" she nodded and they began to make their way to the check in line, "You owe me nothing Ziva, I took a bullet because I wanted to protect you not to be owed anything, and the fact that I survived and now we are together couldn't make me any more happier than I already am, except for maybe some Italian pizza". She shoved him playfully and then he placed a much anticipated kiss on her lips, this trip was going to be great indeed.

**Well thats it finished! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed/story alerted and even put this in their favourite stories! I would not have continued this without the support you have given me with my first story! Thank you so much! & I hope that you will enjoy any other story I write should it be for NCIS or anything else! H x**


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